One of the two teenage girls who died in a suspected joint
suicide pact posted a series of suicidal poems on the internet in
the months before her death.

Jodie Gater and Stephanie Gestier, both 16-year-old students at
Melbourne's Upwey High School, were missing for a week before their
bodies were found yesterday, hanging from a tree in the Dandenong
Ranges National Park.

From last December to February, on one of her websites, Jodie
posted three odes to suicide, the second one titled Suicide in
the Night.

It reads: "It's over for me, I can't take it! I hear it over and
over again, It feels like it always rains.''

Another of Jodie's MySpace websites reads: "Let Steph n me b
free.''

Meanwhile, Stephanie also posted a series of photos on a website
on March 28 and 29, just over three weeks before she was found
dead.
Her website profile said: "i dont wanna know how many friends you
have cuz i dont have any anymore (sic).''

Distraught mother writes to daughter

Stephanie's grieving mother is also believed to have used the
internet early today to post a letter of farewell to her
daughter.

The author of the note, identified by Southern Cross
Broadcasting as Stephanie's mother Juli, a transit police officer,
says her daughter, her only child, "was found with her friend
hanging from a tree''.

"Stephanie, why didn't you tell me you were so upset? Why didn't
you just come home?'' the note asked.

"You had only just turned 16. You were always such a quiet girl
who spent time listening to music and surfing the internet.

"There is nothing that couldn't have been sorted out. You were
my only child and can never be replaced. Bye bye, my little
girl.''

She wrote that her daughter had disappeared a week ago on
Sunday, after returning from a school holiday trip to her
grandparents' house.

"I left her a present on her bed," the note said.

"My husband picked her up from the airport and took her home and
she told him she was going out with friends. That was the last we
saw of her.

Involved in fight on train

"I heard later that she had been involved in a fight on a train
with some other girls and had taken off with her friend, who said
she was going to kill herself.

"She was reported missing to police the next day. You may have
seen her story on TV and radio.

"Today, seven days later, she was found with her friend hanging
from a tree."

The teenagers also appear in footage on a YouTube website,
dancing with two other girls in what appears to be a school
hall.

``It's very, very unusual to have girls kill themselves and
particularly kill themselves in this way,'' he said.

Friends should be monitored

Meanwhile he warned friends of the girls should be
monitored.

"Yes, this puts all their friends at huge risk,'' he told
Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"We know that having someone close to you commit suicide is a
risk factor in and of itself... I'm sure there's people working out
there with the young people to make sure they understand that
suicide is not a solution.''

Cyber friends left tributes on Jodie's website.

One contributor, Matt, said: "R.I.P girl. Gonna miss you lots. I
love you and i'll never forget you''.

Another said: "if it's true R.I.P. ill miss you and all the
memories from primary skool. xoxo''.

Jodie's final website update was on April 14, a day before she
and Stephanie went missing.

Her final message was to her boyfriend, Allan, next to a picture
of them kissing.

``I luv you sooo soo much Allan, Miss u heaps and heaps xoxoxo I
will always remember u,'' she wrote.

Upwey High School, where the girls studied, released a statement
today.

School community devastated

"The Upwey High School community is devastated by the tragic
deaths of two of our year 11 students," the statement reads.

"One of the strengths of our school community is that we are a
tight-knit group who will support each other in these difficult
times."

"These counsellors are already working with students and staff,
and will continue to support the whole school community," he
said.

"Our deepest thoughts and sympathies are with the grieving
families, relatives and friends of Stephanie and Jodie."

Gallop tells of pressures in community

Former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop, who quit politics
last year citing depression, today spoke of the tragedy at the
release of the results of a depression survey in Melbourne.

"We never know the circumstances of these things,
unfortunately," Professor Gallop said.

"But what we do know is that there are a lot of pressures now in
our community, and some individuals who have a predisposition to
depression find [some] circumstances too difficult to cope
with."

Professor Gallop is now director of the Graduate School of
Government, at the University of Sydney.

"The trauma associated with these tragedies cannot be
underestimated, and our hearts go out to everyone that is
involved," he said.

Kennett tells of parents' greatest fear

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, now chairman of the
national depression initiative beyondblue, said the deaths were
tragic.

"As a parent, the greatest thing I fear is to be predeceased by
a child under any circumstances," Mr Kennett said.

"To be predeceased in these circumstances is awful and I do feel
so desperately for the families involved," he said.

"We don't know the circumstances in this particular case. But I
do say to people we've got to handle these issues very
sensitively."

Mr Kennett said that up to 2000 Australians committed suicide
each year.

"That's more than six a day, that's more than the road
toll."

Left wondering

He said those who were left behind were often left wondering why a
loved one decided to end their life.

"It is those who are left behind to ask: 'Why, how and what more
could we have done?'

"There's no use in apportioning blame, there's nothing you can
do in these circumstances.''

Counselling for troubled young people is available on
the following numbers:
- Lifeline - 131 114 (cost of a local call)
- Kids Help Line - 1800 55 1800 (free call)
- Suicide Prevention Crisis Line - (02) 9331 2000